Review

Ever since J.K. Rowling announced that her play, HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD, was in the works in September 2015, fans of the series have been buzzing just to get a sneak peak of what the new installment in the Harry Potter series will delve into. After the play opened on London's West End, eviewers were calling it "spellbinding" and praising its incorporation of magic into a full theater experience.

When I first opened the book, I was nervous beyond words. I was scared to read what could be the final addition to the Harry Potter series I had grown to love; would HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD meet my expectations? No, it did not. In fact, it went far beyond them.

"Characters old and new are introduced in heartwarming, or sometimes simply shocking manners, and you'll be on the edge of your seat to find out how every piece of this book fits together at the end."

It is important to note that this story is published as the official script to the play, meaning that it contains stage directions, and the only way to visualize the story is through the dialogue and tidbits of information about the setting occasionally given at the beginning of the scene.

Without giving away too much (what's the point of a review if it contains spoilers, after all?), the play exposes the original characters in a different light, and we get to really meet the Potter as well as Granger-Weasley household. Harry works at the Ministry of Magic along with Hermione, while Ginny is in charge of the sports pages of the Daily Prophet, and Ron runs a joke shop.

When Albus goes to Hogwarts for his first year, he has a feeling he just won't get into Gryffindor and is afraid of failing to upkeep the Potter legacy --- you know, the one where Harry Potter helped stop Voldemort from destroying the world. However, he thankfully won't be attending alone; Hermione and Ron's daughter, Rose, is also attending with him.

While aboard the Hogwarts Express, Albus meets Scorpius Malfoy, who is rumored to be Voldemort's son conceived with the help of a Time-Turner, a device that can be used to travel back in time. These two --- led by Albus, who is seeking to be brave like he was taught his father was --- embark on a dangerous mission that may pu their entire existence and the outcome of the world after the war in peril.

I loved every bit of the script, and dream of seeing it with my own eyes on a stage (CURSED CHILD is most likely coming to Broadway sometime in the near future). And I didn't feel like reading this book as a script impeded much on how I read the story. Seeing the characters grow through dialogue made me able to really enjoy, for example, the powerful friendship between Albus and Scorpius, and the absolute cluelessness in Harry when it comes to dealing with his son.

The story delved into the importance of family, like when Harry recalled painful moments from the past, or when due to his lack of parental guidance, he had quite a lot of trouble understanding the reasoning behind his son Albus's rebellious attitude. It taught the importance of friendship as well, and that no one should ever leave a friend behind.

Essentially, HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD focuses on one moment in the series, and replays the scene multiple times to satisfy our need to know, "what if?" as well as Albus's mission. Characters old and new are introduced in heartwarming, or sometimes simply shocking manners, and you'll be on the edge of your seat to find out how every piece of this book fits together at the end.

Rowling swears that HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD will be the last novel of the Harry Potter series, but for some reason I am not so sure. I felt that there was much more that readers can learn out about Rose Granger-Weasley or even about the Malfoy family.

This book is likely to be the biggest book of the summer, if not of the year, and for a reason. It brought the story we were all waiting for, in a fashion that only J.K. Rowling's magical writing can bring.